Strategic developments in the delivery of psychiatric services worldwide

InternatIonal PsychIatry Volume 11 Number 1 FebruArY 2014 We are delighted to have a trio of papers from senior staff members of the World Health Organiz­ ation (WHO) on the strategic development plans for psychiatric services in the African Region, in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the Western Pacific. We are truly privileged to publish these valuable documents, which reflect the current state of the WHO’s attempts to improve psychiatric services worldwide. Dr Carina Ferreira­Borges reports from Africa, and draws attention to the WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan for 2013–20. This em­ phasises the importance of delivering care in the community and of consider ing the notion of re­ covery. Despite the emphasis in the plan on moving away from a purely medical model to a socially responsive model of care for people with mental health problems, there has been little movement in this direction in Africa. Unfortunately, in most African states, mental health has a low priority. It is considered to be a ‘small problem’ compared with the burden of communicable diseases, an attitude fostered by the big donors from the West. Strategic developments in the delivery of psychiatric services worldwide